The great Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is the author of unforgettable literary masterpieces. Such works for the stage as “The Seagull”, “Three Sisters”, the play “The Cherry Orchard”, have been included in the repertoires of theaters around the world for more than a hundred years and enjoy constant success with the public. However, to convey the true Russian character of the characters is obtained not in every foreign theater. The play "The Cherry Orchard" is Chekhov's last work. The writer was going to continue his work in the field of theatrical art, but the disease prevented.
"Cherry Orchard", the story of the play
The dramaturgy of Russian theater art of the late 19th century was distinguished by the dedication of the authors. The writer Arkady Ostrovsky worked fruitfully until the last day. He died in 1886, at the 63rd year of his life, from nervous exhaustion. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, already terminally ill, worked without leaving his office, creating his own unique masterpieces. Feelings aggravated by malaise increased the artistic level of works.
The play of the great Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, “The Cherry Orchard,” the history of which is associated with an unfavorable period in the life of the writer, was published in 1903. Before that, the drama "Three Sisters" was played on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater, which was an unprecedented success. Then Chekhov decided to start work on the next play. In a letter to his wife, actress Olga Leonardovna Knipper, he wrote: "... but the next play, which I will write, will certainly be funny ..."
Not at all fun
Could the writer’s last play, which he created just before his death, become “funny”? Hardly, but sad - yes. The drama “The Cherry Orchard,” the story of which is no less tragic than the play itself, became the quintessence of the entire short life of the great playwright. The characters in the work are registered with high artistic authenticity, and events, although they unfold in a somewhat unexpected direction, do not contain any particular intrigue. Around the middle of the play, fatal inevitability is felt.
Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya
The story of the ruin of the estate of an elderly landowner evokes dual feelings. The relative well-being of Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya is beyond doubt, although this impression is only supported indirectly. Her estate is sold for debts, but there remains the possibility of returning to Paris. Ranevskaya parted with the cherry orchard, which is part of her life, but along with this, the future of the elderly heroine looms promising. The writer did not translate the episode of the acquisition of the estate by the merchant Lopakhin, followed by the felling of trees into the category of tragic hopelessness. Although, of course, the knock of an ax chopping down trees, these are blows to the fate of Ranevskaya and her relatives.
The play “The Cherry Orchard,” the story of which reflects the desire of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov to show the costs of that time as deeply as possible, reveals the ruin and neglect of the landowner estates. The dying noble estates, behind which were the broken fates of people, were shown by the writer with frightening frankness. The tragedy of the events taking place in the lives of the inhabitants of the noble nests is part of the Russian reality of that time, gloomy and unpredictable.
The result of all creative life
The play "The Cherry Orchard", whose characters are taken by the writer from life, is the last work of the playwright Chekhov. Her plot is somehow intertwined with the life of the writer himself. At one time, the family of Anton Pavlovich was forced to sell a house in Taganrog. And the playwright’s acquaintance with the landowner A.S. Kiselev - the owner of the estate Babkino, located near Moscow, made it possible to better understand the problems of impoverished nobles. Kiselyov’s estate was sold for debts, and the former landowner joined the service in one of the banks of Kaluga. Thus, Kiselev became the prototype of the character of Gaev. The remaining images in the play "The Cherry Orchard" were also taken from life. The characters of the work in question can be found anywhere. These are ordinary ordinary people.
Creativity and Disease
The play "The Cherry Orchard", the story of which is associated with a painful malaise and overcoming the disease, was written in a few months. The premiere took place on January 17, 1904, on the birthday of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Moscow Art Theater honored its author. The seriously ill writer found strength in himself and arrived at the premiere. Nobody expected to see Chekhov in the theater, the audience gave him a standing ovation, all the artistic and literary Moscow gathered in the hall. Rachmaninov and Chaliapin, Gorky and Bryusov - the whole color of the creative elite of Moscow honored Chekhov with his presence.
The play "The Cherry Orchard", heroes and characters
The actors of the theatrical production of 1904:
- The main character is landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya.
- Her daughter Anya, 17 years old.
- The brother of Ranevskaya is Gayev Leonid Andreevich.
- Foster daughter of Lyubov Andreyevna Varia, 24 years old.
- Student - Trofimov Peter.
- Landowner, neighbor - Boris Borisovich Pishchik.
- Merchant - Ermolay Alekseevich Lopakhin.
- Governess - Charlotte Ivanovna.
- The clerk - Epikhodov Semyon Panteleevich.
- The maid is Dunyasha.
- Old footman - Firs.
- The young footman is Yasha.
- Postal officer.
- Passerby.
- The maid.
- Guests.
The play "The Cherry Orchard" - Chekhov’s masterpiece - was created in the last year of the writer’s life, and therefore can rightfully be considered the farewell address of the great playwright to people.
Summary
The immortal play "The Cherry Orchard" by Chekhov was a worthy conclusion to the creative path of the writer and playwright. Here is a summary of it.
The estate of the landowner Ranevskaya with a magnificent cherry orchard should be sold for debts. Lyubov Andreevna herself has been living abroad for the past five years with her daughter Anya, seventeen years old. Brother Ranevskaya (Gaev Leonid Andreyevich) and Varya (adopted daughter of Lyubov Andreevna) still live on the estate, which can no longer be saved. Ranevskaya’s affairs are going badly - six years have passed since her husband died. Then the little son died (drowned in the river). Then Lyubov Andreevna went abroad to somehow be forgotten. She got a lover, who then had to be looked after because of his illness.
Homecoming
And now, on the eve of the auction, the mistress of the estate, along with her daughter Anya, is returning home. At the station, travelers are greeted by Leonid Andreevich and Varya. At home, they are waiting for a long-time acquaintance of the merchant Lopakhin and the maid Dunyasha. Epichodov’s clerk comes later to report.
Crews are approaching the estate, the meeting is joyful, but everyone speaks only of his own. Lyubov Andreevna herself walks in tears in rooms, recalls past years and listens to the news on the go. Dunyasha shares with her mistress that Epikhodov proposed to her.
Lyubov Andreevna stops to catch her breath, and here Lopakhin reminds her that the estate is about to be sold, but it can still be saved if the garden is cut down and the land given in parts for rent to summer residents. The idea is quite sensible, except for Ranevskaya’s deep nostalgia for the past. Lopakhin’s proposal horrifies her - how can I destroy the cherry orchard, because in it is her whole past life!
Family friend Lopakhin
Frustrated, Lopakhin leaves, and instead appears Petya Trofimov - an “eternal student”, a pimple young man who was once a teacher of Ranevskaya’s son. He wanders around the living room without any sense. Gaev, left alone with Varya, begins to make plans on how to save the estate from ruin. She recalls an aunt in Yaroslavl, about whom no one had heard anything in the past fifteen years, but at the same time everyone knows that she is very rich. Leonid Andreyevich offers to write a letter to her with a bow.
Lopakhin returned. He again began to persuade Ranevskaya and her brother to rent the property, although they did not listen to him. Desperate to somehow convince these "strange, not business, frivolous" people, Lopakhin is about to leave. Lyubov Andreevna asks him to stay, because "it is more fun with him." Petya took hold of everyone's attention and began to vilify the intelligentsia, who likes to philosophize, and treats people like cattle. Lopakhin manages to screw a few words about how few decent people are around. Then Ranevskaya interrupts him and recalls that soon the trading day.
Knocking an ax as the finale of a lifetime
Comes August 22 - the day on which the auction is scheduled. The night before, a ball was held at the estate, musicians were invited, and food was ordered. But no one came, except for the postal official and the station head, but once upon a time, generals and noble nobles danced on the parquet floor.
Ranevskaya talks with Petya Trofimov and confesses to him that her life will lose its meaning if there is no cherry orchard. Then she shares her secret with the teacher: it turns out, every day they send telegrams from Paris from her former lover, in which he tearfully begs her to return. As they say, there is no silver lining. Petya condemns her for indulging in "insignificance, petty villain." Ranevskaya is angry, calls Petya "an eccentric, cleanliness and a bore." They are arguing.
Lopakhin and Gayev come and announce that the estate has been sold and that Lopakhin bought it. The merchant is happy, because he managed to furnish Deriganov himself at the auction, bypassing him by as much as ninety thousand rubles. And now Yermolai Lopakhin will be able to cut down the cherry orchard, divide the land into plots and rent them out to summer residents. The knock of an ax is heard.
The ruin of the landed estates
Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard", whose theme was so topical for the end of the 19th century, is characterized by the most realistic representation of events. The nobles lived on a grand scale, constantly borrowed money, and the estate was always the key to a loan. And it is quite natural that it then went under the hammer. Lubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya was cut down a cherry orchard, walking an ax through her soul. And the other landowners, having gone broke, committed suicide, and this happened quite often.
The characterization of The Cherry Orchard as a public theatrical play can be reduced to a short wording: cherry orchards, as the meaning of one's life, are vulnerable and doomed to die in a society of high society and landlord's receipts.